India: Government buildings will benefit from rooftop solar panels

The state government has decided to install rooftop solar panels in as many government buildings as possible across the state so that at least one fourth of the total power demand of these buildings can be met through the alternative route.

To begin with, 50KW solar panels have already been set up in two government buildings – Nagarayan Bhavan and Nirman Bhavan in Salt Lake. While Nagarayan Bhavan houses the state urban development, Nirman Bhavan, which was earlier known as Sech Bhavan, is the office of the state irrigation department.

“It is a 50KW capacity net metered solar panel that will meet about one fourth of each of the building’s total power demand. We have also installed solar panels in the New Town Kolkata Development Authority building in New Town,” said state urban development department secretary Debashis Sen.

Solar energy that will be generated from the panel will be converted into electrical energy and put into the grid. The power that will be generated will be measured through a special net-meter and thereby there will be a reduction in the total electricity bill.

According to an urban development official, installation of roof-top solar panels will make government buildings energy intelligent and the use of conventional electricity will be reduced considerably. “Regulators will be fixed and the panels will be net-metered so that the tariff rate could be fixed for using solar power,” he said.

In Rajarhat New Town, NKDA authorities had already made it mandatory for all commercial and residential high-rises to install solar rooftop systems to meet at least 2% of the buildings’ total electric load.

Already, the state environment department and the West Bengal Pollution Control Board (WBPCB) are jointly working to set up solar photo voltaic panels in 80 schools and 20 primary health centres across the state. The project is being executed by the West Bengal Green Energy Development Corporation to generate solar power from the panels and to put it on the grid.